Absolutely do not miss this piece from Abigail Field – So head over and please absorb the information.

Abigail C. Field-

If you want to cut through some of the nonsense the banks have managed to sell as information about the housing situation, robosigning, mortgage modifications, check out this very accessible interview of attorney Talcott Franklin by Martin Andelman.

Tal represents the majority of investors hosed once by Wall Streeers selling AAA-rated mortgage backed junk, and constantly being hosed again by the big bank servicers of those mortgages. Interestingly, his perspective sounds very much like homeowners’. Yes, a couple of times it gets a little too legalistic, but only for about 5 minutes of the slightly longer than the hour chat—when you hit the overview of the contracts structuring securitization, or any other topic that is more in the weeds than you want to go, take a deep breath and keep going. Most of the interview is in a rhythm and a language that creates clarity I’ve not seen or heard elsewhere.

Please find some time today or over the weekend to listen to this excellent podcast of Martin Andelman’s interview with Attorney Talcott Franklin, who represents more than half of all the investors in mortgage-backed securities on the planet. Tal’s the co-author of the “Mortgage and Asset-backed Securities Litigation Handbook,” and he’s a very experienced and highly sophisticated litigator. You will learn a whole lot and many thanks to Martin for this super interview.

The podcast is available in two versions… MP4 and MP3. The MP4 version includes a couple of slides that show diagrams of the basic securitization process, but the MP4 format may not play on some computers. The MP3 version is audio only, and should play on most any computer. Most listeners will have no trouble following along either way.

So, turn up the volume on your speakers, and click the MP4 or MP3 version. I loved recoding this podcast. If you want to know more about the foreclosure crisis, you’re about to learn from an expert on the other side of the foreclosures, the investor side… it doesn’t get any better than this!

A few weeks ago, Fannie Mae issued an outright threat to homeowners in this country, creating a new rule that would punish anyone who stops paying their mortgage and walks away from their home, referred to as a “strategic default,” by not allowing those who choose that path to get a Fannie Mae loan for seven years.

They call it their “Seven-Year Lockout Policy for Strategic Defaulters,” and if you haven’t realized it already… look what’s been accomplished here: Homeowners have scared the heck out of industry giant, Fannie Mae. I mean… these guys are shaking like leaves, absolutely running scared. I know homeowners have been feeling like they have no power against the bankers, but this should prove otherwise. It’s like we pushed the bully, and the bully ran home and got his Mom to come lay down a new rule in response.

On Fannie’s Website, Terence Edwards, Executive Vice President for Credit Portfolio Management has the following to say about the new rule:

“Walking away from a mortgage is bad for borrowers and bad for communities and our approach is meant to deter the disturbing trend toward strategic defaulting.”

Bad for borrowers, Terrence? Really, how so? Are you trying to say that people who walk away from their underwater mortgages are doing it because it’s bad for them? Because I don’t think they think that, Terence. I’m pretty sure that those that choose to walk away from their mortgages do so because they’ve figured out that it’s better for them… in their own best interests, as they say.

Hey Terrence, you disingenuous prick, I understand that my walking away from my mortgage is bad for you, but that’s only because my house is now worth half of what I owe. You wouldn’t mind if I walked away from my mortgage if I had equity, right? So, in other words, you want me to lose the couple hundred grand instead of you, does that about sum up your position here? Yeah, well… I’m sure you do. But I, on the other hand, would prefer that you lose the money instead of me. Sorry about that.

Terrence, last I checked you’re just a giant failed mortgage lender who is as much a part of why we’re in this mess as any, and you’re going to need $1.5 trillion in taxpayer dollars to bail you out.

I’m a taxpayer, Terrence… isn’t that enough of a loss for me to take on your behalf? You want me to contribute my tax dollars and probably my child’s future tax dollars to your $1.5 trillion bailout. And on top of that, you also want me to eat the loss of a couple hundred grand on my house?

Geeze… when are you guys planning to kick in on this? Your CEO gets a $6 million a year salary, I looked it up, and best I can tell he gets paid to say “yes” to just about everything. I don’t know, Terrence, but I’m pretty sure that I could have bankrupted Fannie Mae for a lot less than $1.5 trillion.

Walking away from a $500,000 mortgage on a house that’s now worth $250,000 isn’t bad for the borrower, it’s good for the borrower… it makes all the financial sense in the world, for the borrower. I mean, would you recommend that someone hold onto a stock that’s lost half its value.